


Masks

by therealassistant



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: got this idea the second i saw some Certain Sprites of him, i didnt really like korekiyo or anything but he was still an interesting character and I wanted More, i fucking hated the chapter three plot twist, no incest plot twist au, not enough to hate the entire game but GOD, say it with me now "korekiyo not kiyo. ouma not oma.", spoilers for main game in this, the title sucks i know but it's late cut me some slack, you know the one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 12:18:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13053855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therealassistant/pseuds/therealassistant
Summary: "Everyone has a mask they could wear, Korekiyo, but it's up to them to decide whether or not to wear it."





	Masks

**Author's Note:**

> @whoever thought of this incest plot for korekiyo: im going to fight you in a denny's parking lot. 
> 
> it's late and this probably sucks but Im posting it anyway.
> 
> disclaimer: i own nothing

Even in a crisis such as this, you can't help but notice how each and every other student acts. The habits you have engraved so many times into your mind to the point that even when others aren't watching, you can't help but watch and record how others act.

Every single one of your classmates is a spectacle to watch, with some who plan in secrecy, like Rantaro, and some who would put themselves up to the chopping block to save the others, like Hoshi. Yet your eyes are drawn to the self proclaimed leader, Kaede, who leads the others, but mostly the detective, along with words of encouragement and promises of friendship.

There was a moment before the first murder where you were actually tempted to take off your mask and reveal your true self. Your ruby red lips itching behind the leather as you spoke to Kaede, gently tugging at the mask's zipper as you spoke. "Kaede... I have a request for you..."

She turns to you, and you can see in her eyes that, regardless of what you were about to ask of her, as long as it didn't seem criminal, she would say yes, and it causes something to twist in your stomach. "Hm? What is it, Korekiyo?"

You open your mouth in reply, yet something makes you stop, feeling as if something is tightening around your throat, much like the noose she would later experience. Eventually, you just shake your head, a soft chuckle leaving your mouth to fill the awkward silence that was left behind. "Kukuku... Nevermind, I'll ask you later."

There is no later. Later means that Rantaro is found in the library, laying in a pool of his own blood. Later means Kaede with a noose around her own neck, choking her until she could no longer give her usual words of encouragement. Later means acting like him in a setting where truths are dragged into the light, and fearing if your act will somehow fall apart. 

You wonder, for the briefest of moments, if he would have became friends with her, before quickly banishing the thought away. He's still here, you are him, and you were friends with Kaede, or so you would like to think.

_"Sister, do you really love me?"_

_"Of course, brother. How could I not?"_

The next day, Shuichi comes to the cafeteria without his hat. It intrigues you, but for once you don't pry, as he probably would. No, for once, you are not him, but yourself, and you know that you should mind your own business.

Instead, you spend most of your time that day with Kirumi, looking around the new school grounds that Monokuma has allowed you to look at, making small talk with her about whatever either of you could think of. The topics ranging from people Kirumi have worked for, to the travels you have made around the world, just anything that wasn't about the hellhole you were trapped in, or about what happened yesterday.

You eventually stumble into the ultimate maid's talent lab, and your unseen mouth is agape at the beautiful room. It's not the most amazing thing you've seen, granted, but that does not take the beauty away from the small room.

You are both looking over the room when Shuichi comes in, his hat still missing from atop his head. At first, you carry on with examining the table in the middle of the room, looking over the dummies dressed in expensive dresses and suits. It doesn't hurt you when Shuichi talks to Kirumi first, given your appearance and how you act, you are used to being ignored.

It is mostly for that reason that it shocks you that once Shuichi is done with his conversation with Kirumi, he walks over towards you, giving a small, shy wave as he moved. "Afternoon, Korekiyo."

It takes a moment for you to realize that he's talking to you. He's saying his name, but he's talking to you. 

You simply nod in return, your words muffled behind your mask as you returned his greeting. "Afternoon... This room is quite nice, isn't it?"

Shuichi seems relieved that you had offered a topic, a small smile fitting quite nicely onto his face as he glanced around the room once again, before turning to you once again. "Yeah, it is..."

You almost laugh. It seems that he wasn't exactly as prepared at having this conversation as you were. "Truly... Its Victorian era style reminds me of a tale that I have once heard before."

"Really? What was it about?"

You pause. You have heard countless stories with Victorian Era settings before, yet they never settled correctly in your mind. Like all of them were thrown into a blender and mixed together, leaving behind a mush. You shut your eyes as you rack your brain for one, swearing that you've read one recently, before finally being able to recall it. "... The era is 19th century England..."

You hug yourself as you ramble on the tale of a man who had pledged loyalty to the queen and king, yet had fallen in love with their poor maid. Speaking of clashes between social classes, and unrequited love.

Once you are done, there is a second of silence, before Shuichi quietly speaks up, sounding uneasy. "That... Kind of sounds like the plot to a girl's manga."

This time, you do freeze up completely, your eyes snapping open to stare at the boy in front of you.

Has he figured it out? What went wrong? When did he figure it out? Yesterday when you were talking to Kaede? During the trial? This morning?

No, he couldn't have. You've been keeping up this act for years, there's no way someone who's only known you for a few days, and rarely spoke with you to boot, could figure it out.

Eventually, you let out a small laugh, although it sounds more like you are trying to cough something up, forcing words to pass your lips. "Is that so? Then are you saying I am like some young love struck girl..?"

You are almost unable to stop the relieved sigh from leaving your mouth once Shuichi panics, apologizing to you so fast that his words are bunched together. You collect yourself quickly in return, going back to that cool and somewhat creepy personality he usually had.

Shuichi quickly leaves the room once he's done apologizing, taking the panic you had felt before along with him.

From then on, you promise to be more careful about keeping up your act. If he were to live on, then no one must find out that you exist.

Angie finds a flashlight while looking around the school, and once you and every of your other classmates are in the gym with her, she turns it on.

Fear, chaos, destruction, and death, oh so much death, flash into your mind for the briefest of seconds, and for once, your act drops.

He would have kept a calm and collected head in this situation, examining his fellow classmate's reactions, and probably make a comment on how what everyone just saw was beautiful in its own way.

All you can do is hold your head in your hands as you fall to your knees, thinking about if the world was like that now, then what was the point of this entire act.

_"Really? Even if what's under my mask is..."_

_"Korekiyo, those scars underneath your mask... They're not your fault. And even if they were, I'd still love you anyway."_

_"... Thank you, Tenshi."_

The next day, a tablet is on your desk, right next to the bag of ruby red lipstick you usually carried. 

When you turn it on, the words "Angie Yonaga's Motive Video" flash across the screen. 

You briefly wonder about what he would do. Surely, he would watch the video, just to see what would cause Angie to commit a murder, what exactly would drag her down to such levels?

You immediately turn it off. 

Two days after the motive video is out, Hoshi is eaten by fishes, the prime minister is found guilty, she runs and runs and runs, before she falls down, down, down... 

_"Korekiyo, why are you even bringing this up?"_

_"Ah, no reason, I was just wondering..."_

_"... Are the kids at school bothering you about your mask again?"_

_"N-No, it's just that... Nevermind, I'll tell you later."_

The next day, you finally see the room meant for him, yet given to you to do with as you wish. 

He would have smiled in pure happiness if he saw this room that looked as if it was ripped right out of a museum, forcing himself not to dash around and examine every single artifact. 

You can only stare at the objects from the middle of the room, the people around you just white noise to your thoughts. 

That is, until Ouma grabs one of the artifacts in the room, an ancient gold katana. 

"Whoa, this is so cool! Is this-? 

"Don't touch that!" 

Your voice, not his, sounds ancient to your own ears, even though you see yourself in the mirror every morning and haven't seen him in years. Papa has often told both you and him sound alike when angry, yet you never understood what he meant, until now. 

You snatch the katana out of Ouma's hands, nearly shaking in pure rage as you glared down at the short purple haired boy. "Don't you ever touch anything in this room without my permission... If you do, I will rip out your nerves." 

Ouma does not put of an illusion of fear at your words, not at first. He stares up at you with this blank look on his face, finger to his chin. 

Both of you stand there in silence for a little while longer, before Ouma finally gives his crocodile tears, sniffing as he turned away from you. "Y-Yes ma'am..." 

Your eyes widen at the boy's words, yet as you open your mouth to ask him how long he's known, he quickly runs out of the room bawling, disturbing the dust that was on the ground before. 

Once you no longer hear the short boy's cries, you give a frustrated sigh, looking down at the katana you had snatched from him, cursing under your breath once you noticed the gold paint on it had gotten onto your hand. 

You don't notice Shuichi standing in the doorway, and he's gone once you finally leave the room. 

This time, Shuichi comes back with the flashback light, and once he turns it on, you see your own funeral. 

This time, your act doesn't crack or falter, because you immediately know it can't be real, it just couldn't be. 

If you were dead, wouldn't you have seen him? 

Your bandaged hands are gripping the podium in front of you, the sweat falling down your face making the mask feel uncomfortable against your skin.

Everyone participating in the class trial is staring at you with accusing eyes, even the portrait of Tenko's face, who was found dead in the girl's bathroom this morning, glares at you behind the bloody X.

You try to say something, anything at all to try and convince them that you didn't kill Tenko. But did you really? Or was it him finally using you to do what he wants?

Finally, after a few minutes of tense silence, you finally think of an argument, your words flying out without much thought. "Wait, why would I be in the girl's bathroom anyway..? T-There was no reason for me to be in there!"

Yes, there was. Your bag was in there from when you accidentally left it behind in the restroom last night while you were reading in his, no, your talent lab, but they didn't know that, and they didn't need to.

A small murmur of agreement goes across the class trial grounds, because as far as they knew, you had no business being in there. 

"Shuichi did say that this seemed like it was a spur of the moment crime..."

"But couldn't Korekiyo kill Tenko and then drag her until the girl's bathroom?" 

"But why would he-?"

"She"

Your head whips into the direction of the voice, your eyes already narrowing, a scowl appearing behind your mask as you see Kokichi Ouma's devilish grin. 

Gonta's kind voice doesn't hold any of the venom that's suddenly rising within you, sounding innocent to the point it angered you more. "... What did Kokichi just say? Did he just call Korekiyo a..?"

Kokichi's devilish grin seems to widen as he turns to Gonta, pointing towards you as he spoke. "Wow, Gonta, are you really that dumb? It's rude to call Korekiyo a dude, you should apologize!"

"Gonta not understand... Isn't Korekiyo a boy?"

You never thought it was possible to hate someone so much until this point. You wanted nothing more than to jump across the room and wrap your bandaged hands around Kokichi's throat and scream at his face. Does he not know what he's about to do? Is he not aware of what you've done to keep this act up for years?

"... No, I don't think so."

This time, the voice is different, yet you recognize it immediately, now glaring at the ultimate detective.

For once, he does not flinch away from your gaze, staring right back at you as he now slowly spoke. "... I don't know why you're pretending to be a boy, but if you want us to find out the truth, then you need to trust us, okay?"

_There is no later. He's found dead hours later, his body trapped under an old car. They say he died instantly._

Your shaking to the point that you can barely stand now, hugging yourself as you mumbled out a reply. "N-No..."

_You keep his mask, and you don't leave your room for awhile. When you emerge from it weeks later, you are wearing the mask, calling yourself by your brother's name. Your parents hate you for it at first, but soon just ignore you altogether. You're coping, they say, you will outgrow it later on._

"I-I must... I must carry on brother's life with my own... It is the only way for him to find peace..."

"... I don't know much about your brother, but if I'm right, and you've been acting like him... I think you're wrong."

_There is no later_

You are barely able to hold back your enraged reply. What did that stupid detective know? He had never met the real Korekiyo in his life, all he had seen was the phony pretending to be him.

"I think... I think he would have been happier if you started to live your own life, and not live out his."

_"Sister, I hate wearing this mask to hide these dumb scars... It's so itchy..."_

_"... Korekiyo, can I tell you a secret?"_

_"Yes, of course! You know that you can trust me with any secret, right?_

_"Ha, I know... The truth is, Korekiyo, is that everyone wears a mask, we just can't see them."_

_"R-Really? Even you? How do you know when to wear it?"_

_"Yes, even me, but never around you... Everyone has a mask, Korekiyo, but it's up to them to decide whether or not to wear it"_

_"Then I... I want everyone to see how nice you are, Tenshi. If you don't mind, of course."_

_"Anything for you, Korekiyo!"_

Your hands are shaking as you slowly raise them to your mask, not feeling the tears falling down your face as one of the final conversations you've had with your brother flashes across your mind.

How could someone who's never met your brother before know something so obvious? Now you can truly call yourself an idiot.

But first, you should probably take off this stupid mask.

You ignore the gasps filling the room as you slowly remove the leather mask from your face, not revealing scars caused by a car accident long ago, but beautiful, perfect ruby red lips.

You feel a small, almost shy smile fit onto your face as you look around at your fellow classmates, your voice no longer holding that creepy tone you've forced it to have for years. "... I should probably reintroduce myself... My name is Tenshi Shinguji. It's a pleasure to finally, truly meet you all."

**Author's Note:**

> wowwow WOW i feel like this is incredibly rushed and so unlike what I usually write but i was thinking about this a lot recently and so help me i was going to break my own hands if I didn't write this
> 
> what happens to tenshi you ask? while I imagine that she does survive the killing game, I'll leave it up to you to decide her fate.
> 
> Thanks for reading it though. feedback is welcomed and appreciated. have a good morning/afternoon/evening everyone.


End file.
